Garment



b L 1938. L. B. TRUESDELL ET A1.. 2,109,951

GARMENT Filed Feb. 26, 1937 raf V up into cape and hood form to IIS Patented Mar. 1, 1938 PATENT OFFICE GARMENT Lucius B. Truesdell and Alfred K. Small,

, De Land, Fla.

Application February 26, 1937i, Serial No. 127,987

' s claims. (ci. 21-88?) This invention relates to improvements in gar,

ments, and its objects are as follows:

First, to provide a garment which is primarily*v intended for emergency and knock-about use,

l' more particularly upon such occasions as when there is the likelihood of rain, snow and cold during the watching of football and similar games.

Second, to provide a garment for purposes such as the foregoing, which is capable of being folded 10 into a comparatively small compass and secured by a familar type of fastener, the resulting pad or package constituting a convenient seat cushion which, when the occasion demands, can be opened protect the user from inclementweather- Third, to provide a garment of the foregoing kind, along certain folding edges of which isV introduced a settable reinforcement, said reinforce' ment, however, not being continuous along said edges but separated where other foldable edges come into mergence, all for the purpose o-f giving the garment a certain degree of strength, yet en-` Figure 1 is a perspective View illustrating-one use of the garment.

Figure 2 is a perspective View of the garment alone.

Figure 3 is a cross section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, particularly showing the pads which are incorporated in certain plaids.

Figure 4 is a perspective View showing the gar ment in its folded or padform, the separable fastener along one edge being partly undone.

As briefly indicated in the foregoing statement of the objects of the invention,- the garment is mainly intended for sports use. For example, persons'who attend football and similar games are not infrequently confronted with the possibility of inclement weather, only to have to sit through the game with a great deal of discomfort from rain, cold or snow. Of course these contingencies can be guarded against by the carrying of umbrellas, rain coats and the like, but the instant garment is intended more for knockabout purposes which, as will presently be seen, is as useful as a pad for the owner to sit upon as it is as an emergency cape and hood.

The garment, obviously is not confined to the foregoing and similar sports uses'. It can be used as a rain cape and cloak. This use is suggested in Figure 1 5to which and the other views of the drawing attention is now directed.

Generally the garment is designated I. It is intended to be made of a fairly heavy fabric, for example such as that from which overcoats are made; This fabric will be so treated on its exterior to Vbe water repellent. Ihe particular material mentioned is given merely for example, and it should be obvious that in practice the garment may be composed'of any desired materialthat will suit its intended uses.

-The aforesaid garment comprises a body en` veloping portion 2 and an attached hood 3. The body portionZ consists of what may be called two upright 'back panels 4, 5. The sides 6, 'I of the hood 3 are joined to these back panels along the lines '8, 9. Theback panels 4, 5 extend forwardly of the hood 3 and comprise flaps I0, II which the wearer folds forwardly of his or her body (Fig. l) to substantially envelop him or herself.

In order tov facilitate the latter purpose, the flaps I0, I I1 have hand or arm loops I2 into or through which the hands or arms can be inserted so as to hold the flaps together in the closed position. These loops are set back from the edges of the flaps sofas not to expose the wearers hands (Fig. 1) to the cold. It is easy to Visualize that instead of:- providing the hand loops I2 upon the flaps I0, Ilthey might be attached to the back panels"4,5*near the places where the flaps are joined -on so as to lenable the user to insert his or her arms up to the shoulders. But in lieu of this variable provision use is made of two bands I3, I4 (Fig. 2) which are intended to be brought together and tied at I5 under the chin of the wearer (Fig-1). It is intended that the hood 3 shall be la-'rge enough to not only cover the head of the wearer but also his or her hat thus affording as complete protection as can b'e expected.

` A factor of no small importance is the manner inv which certain reinforcements are incorporated in the garment. The back edge I6 (Fig. 2) is strengthened by a plurality of reinforcing elements I1. I The forward edges I8 of the panels 4, 5 are similarlyreinforced with like elements I9. Corresponding elements 2U run along the forward edges 2l ofthe hood, and the ridge of the hood is similarly reinforced with an element 23. Y

'Ihese elements may comprise any settable material which can bebent into a desired shape to retain the form in which it is bent. Figure 1, for example, shows how the reinforcing elements along the forward edges 2i of the hood 3 can be bent into bowed form. This maintains the shape of the face opening 24, and the reinforcing elements thus prevent the fabric in the hood from sagging down either to obscure the face of the wearer or to crush his or her hat.

A suitable material from which to make these pliable reinforcing elements is ordinary copper wire. Such wire is capable of being bent repeatedly, and it will stay as bent, whether the bending is straight or bowed to greater or less degree. It is to be especially observed that nowhere are the reinforcing elements continuous along the edges described. separations in the elements are commonly designated l25. This disposition of the reinforcing elements enables the garment to be folded into the pad form (Fig. 4) without each time bending the reinforcing elements in the same places and thus eventually setting up the danger of breaking them at possibly undesired points. Naturally the garment is most easily folded at the places Where the reinforcing elements lack continuity, for example, at the separations 25, and thus these separations serve as guides to aid the wearer in folding the garment into pad form. In all instances the reinforcing elements are held in place by binding tape 26 or some other suitable equivalent.v Other binding tapes 21 are attached crosswise of the garment substantially connecting the separations 25. These cross tapes reinforce the fabric where the folds occur.

The ultimate effect of the separations in the reinforcing elements and the manner in which the binding tapes, especially 2l, are applied subdivides the garment into a succession of plaids or squares 28. It is these plaids or squares which substantially outline the pad form of the garment when folded (Fig. 4). But some o f the plaids are reinforced with padding 29 (Fig. 3). These paddings come together when the garment is folded and so provide a suitable seat pad. But it so happens that the padding 29 strikes the wearer at about hip height, thus affording a measure of protection to the body from jostling crowds.

When the garment is folded into pad form it is secured by a well known type of fastener 30 (Fig. 4) which when drawn in one direction interengages the hook elements 3l which areattached along approximate margins of the folded pack. Almost any type of fastener can be adopted for this purpose, but the particular style suggested in Figure 4 is regarded as most desirable.

We claim:

l. A garment comprising a body enveloping portion, a hood integral with said portion, a pair of flaps carried by the body enveloping portion and so projecting from said portionas to leave a face opening at the hood when said flaps are closed together in front of the body, and settable reinforcing elements along the upright edges of the body enveloping portion, along the ridges of the hood and along the forward edges of said hood and of the body enveloping portion.

2. A garmentA comprising a body enveloping portion which consists of a back section, a hood integral with the body enveloping portion and including sides which are connected by a. ridge, front closure flaps extending from the forward edges of said back section, and reinforcing elements along the forward edges of the back panels and of the hood, also along the ridge of the hood and down the center of the back panels, said reinforcing elements being periodically separated.

3. A garment comprising a body enveloping portion which consists of back panels, a hood integral with the body enveloping portion and including sides which extend upwards from said panels to a connecting ridge, front closure flaps extending from the forward edges of said panels, and reinforcing elements along the forward edges of the back panels and of the hood, also along the ridge of the hood and down the center of the back panels, said reinforcing elements being separated at regularly spaced intervals so as to provide places at which to start folds in the garment when closing it together into pad form, said reinforcing elements being composed of settable material which can be bent into various forms and will stay as bent.

4. A garment comprising a body enveloping portion which consists of a pair of back panels and a hood, the sides of the hood being in extension of the back panels and connected along a common top ridge, front closure flaps extended forwardly from the panels and having means by which to draw and hold them together, supporting means attached to the garment by which to additionally secure the panels to the body of the wearer, reinforcing elements incorporated in the front and back edges of the panels, in the front edges of the hood and along the ridge of the hood, said elements being separated at regular intervals to enable the folding of the garment into plaid formation, and padding incorporated in at least one of the plaids to afford protection to the body of the wearer.

5. A garment comprising a body enveloping portion which includes front closure flaps, a hood attached to the body enveloping portion, a re inforcing element along the ridge and individual reinforcing elements along the forward edges of the hood, said elements comprising a settable material which enables establishing and maintaining the desired shape of the hood independently of the closure aps.

6. A garment comprising a body enveloping portion which includes front closure aps, a hood attached to the body enveloping portion, and reinforcing elements along the ridge and forward edges of the hood, said reinforcing elements being independent of each other and consequently separated at the forward peak of the hood and consisting of a settable material which is readily bendable by the fingers and will retain the shape into which it is bent regardless of whether the flaps are swung open or closed.

7. A garment comprising a body enveloping portion, and means for reinforcing a section of the body enveloping portion, consisting of settable and periodically separated elements incorporated in said section.

8. A garment comprising a body enveloping portion which consists of a back section, a hood integral with the body enveloping portion and including sides which are connected by a ridge, front closure flaps extending from the forward edges of the back section, and reinforcing elements along said forward edges of the back section and of the hood, also along the ridge of the hood, said reinforcing elements being periodically` broken.

LUCIUS B. TRUESDELL. ALFRED K. SMALL. 

